


The Meaning of Time

by polaris_86



Category: X-Men (Movies)
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-30
Updated: 2011-09-30
Packaged: 2017-10-24 04:40:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/259111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polaris_86/pseuds/polaris_86
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pyro often thinks about the past these days... Can be read as Bobby/John.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Meaning of Time

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to post some of the fics I wrote a few years ago. Don't expect too much, my English back at that time wasn't really good. Thus my writing style here is rather simple...  
> Also, this fic was originally a V-Day gift for burnt_pidgeons.  
> Thanks to my beta singe_allerdyce...

Time…

Time is a strange thing, isn’t it? Sometimes it moves very slowly. Other times it moves unbelievably fast. Hours seem like minutes, minutes like seconds.

John remembers that time passed very slowly when he was a child. He figures that's normal, as a child there are new things to discover every day, new experiences to gain.  
You see the world differently - It's big and fascinating, and you hope that you’ll be able to discover all the places in the world someday.

 

When he joined Xavier’s school time moved rather slowly. He felt insecure since he didn’t know anybody at the beginning. He didn’t know who he could trust so at first he showed everybody the cold shoulder. He eventually noticed that it’s not that bad to be seen as rowdy, disgruntled...  
Being the bad boy has a lot of advantages.  
No one pokes their nose into your business. No one pretends to know you. You are respected.

But it has its disadvantages, too.  
Although he would never admit it, he sometimes felt lonely. And loneliness, he discovered, has the power to make time pass extremely slowly; you have nothing better to do than wait for another day to end. So John waited. But what’s the sense in waiting if you’ve nothing to look forward to?

John isn’t sure anymore but he thinks Xavier decided to make Bobby his roommate because he thought the Iceman would have a positive influence on him.  
He remembers that it was never his aim to make friends. It just happened.  
Time passed, they got to know each other. John felt that there was a bond between them.  
If you’ve never had a loving family such a bond can mean more to you then having the same surname, the same blood.

When Rogue arrived everything changed. Bobby liked her from the beginning.  
John flirted with her but he never meant anything serious. He just liked the competition. He wasn’t successful, though. She didn’t feel anything for him, instead she was interested in the Iceman. So Bobby and Rogue became a couple.

Every moment Bobby spent with Rogue felt like a lifetime for John. He couldn’t stand the feeling he had when watching the clock while Bobby was with Rogue. He counted the seconds. He counted them and he hated them, every second Bobby spent with that girl, every second John was alone and had time to think about himself and Bobby and why he felt so bad when his friend wasn’t there. Time can be a bitch when you are a jealous teenager.

When John met Magneto time stood still.  
It was the first time anyone told him he was better than others, a God among Insects, and he liked the feeling.  
Some might say John always had a big ego. That’s not true. He was always insecure about himself, always questioning his powers and behaviour. Nobody ever told him that he was something special. That he didn’t need to prove it.  
The time he spent with Bobby, before Rogue arrived, he felt as if there was somebody who liked him as he was and favoured him over other people. After Rogue arrived, that feeling was gone, like she took his place. Like he was second best to that bitch.  
And then there was Magneto. Someone who didn’t even know him, but already gave him the attention he craved. Him.

When you spend a lot of time with new people it seems so easy to forget your old friends. That’s how it felt for John when he was a member of the Brotherhood; so many interesting things to discover, so many challenging situations. He didn’t have the time to think about his former best friend. The days were full of new experiences, and the respect he got was overwhelming. He felt accepted.  
Just sometimes, when he lay in bed and couldn’t sleep, he thought about Bobby. About the hours they spent together and all the things he left behind. Time deletes many memories but the memories of Bobby stayed clear. He remembered his smile, his voice, his scent. He remembered every detail, even things he had not been aware of when he had still been at the mansion.  
He remembered the old times and he missed them.

He often thinks about the events at Alcatraz. Death and blood and anger everywhere. And in the middle of all those dark memories the bright picture of Bobby.  
At this day he wanted to prove to himself that the past didn’t mean anything to him anymore. He was somewhat successful since he nearly killed Bobby. In the end Bobby beat him and John isn’t sure anymore if it wasn’t because he didn’t want to win. Maybe he didn’t fight with his whole power. But who knows? John doesn’t. He isn’t sure about anything that happened at Alcatraz. His memory is a big mess when it comes to that night. He is grateful that he can’t remember every detail, that he didn’t see the dying people and the destruction caused by the mutants in his dreams. His sleep isn’t peaceful but luckily he never remembers any of his dreams.

Today John works as a journalist. Funny, isn’t it? No one, neither his teachers nor himself, ever noticed how much he liked it to write. His life is steady now. He has a nice small apartment near a park. He isn’t one of the bad guys anymore. Magneto is dead. The Brotherhoods new leader is Mystique. John left them a few years ago when he noticed that he just doesn’t see any sense in hating the humans anymore. He feels better now, more in accordance with his own soul.

 

Today he got a letter - a letter from Bobby. He had not heard anything from him since the Alcatraz-incident. He opened the letter with shaking hands, not sure what to expect. Now he knows, and he is happy. He finally knows that he is on the right way. He knows that life has purpose.

 

Dear John,  
I hope you’re all right. I’d like to see you. I read your article in The Times. It was great. I always knew that you had a hidden talent.  
I’m sorry it took me so long to write you but I was n't really sure if you were still mad at me. I hope you’re not. I really would like to meet up with you. How about dinner next Saturday?  
You can call me if you want: 0***75**554  
I don’t know if you heard about it but I broke up with Rogue. She is married now. I’m still single. Seems like no one can stand a workaholic like me. What about you? Are you in a relationship?  
I’d like to know everything about your life. So please call me.  
Yours,  
Bobby

P.S.: I miss you.

 

The professor once said: You’ll always get a second chance.  
Maybe he was right.


End file.
